Christmas-tree light



(No Model.)

E. UEHLING. CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHT.

No. 531,452. Patented Dec. 25,1894

lNVENTOI? "WITNESSES:

m: Nonms wzrzas co, PHUTO-LITHCL. WASHINGYON, p. r.v

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE'.

EDWARD A. UEHLING, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

CH RlSTMA S -TREE LIGHT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 531,452, dated December 25, 1894.

I Application filed July 25, 1894. Serial No. 518,584- (No model.)

I To all whom it may concern.-

and useful Improvementin Candle-Holders for Christmas-Trees, of which the following is a specification. I To render certain the position of candle holders upon the branches of the tree, I have provided the holder with a sticking point or spur arranged to co-act with a pendent gravity retainer to maintain the holder in certain and precise position upon the branches what ever'their inclination and in whatever positions the branches may assume in bending under the weight of the decorations and thereby prevent all danger of the slipping or falling of the holder with its burning candle.

My improvement embraces other particulars of construction in the device, and in the claims concluding this specification I will specifically point out these several improvements in connection with the accompanying drawings, and in Wl1l0l1 -1 p Figure 1 shows my caudle holding device in vertical section in the position it occupies upon an inclined branch of a tree. Fig. 2 shows the gravity suspending stem and its terminal piercing point or spur-formed at a coil upon which latter the candle-holder is secured. Fig. 3 shows in top view the upper end of the candle-holder, and Fig. 4 shows in top view and iusection the cap for the candle.

The holder a. for the candle is provided with a coil-spring b and the candle being placed in the holder is held down upon the spring by a cap 0 which is retained in the upper end of the holder, so that as the candle is'consumed it will be automatically fed upward against the cap and thereby retain the flame above the holder.

The top of the holder is preferably formed with a spheroidal enlargement or bulged,

which, by its construction and'relation to the inclosed candle acts as a reservoir for catching and collecting the drippings from the the end of the candle. stamped from the cap and raised beyond its As the candle fits snugly Within the holder and projects within its top reservoir, it cooperateswith the latter to retain the drippings so as to form a body surrounding and,

covering the cap at the base of the flame, which burns through the top opening 6 of the reservoirwhich is of sufficieut area to admit the candle.

The cap a is stamped out of a single piece of sheet metal of semi-globular form and is placed upon the wick end of the candle as an central opening therein and the cup covering Radial wings f are convex surface so as to form abutments which engage the inner walls at the top of the bulge and'thereby serve to hold the candle in its proper position within the holder and per- 'of the opening a corresponding to the capwings, so that when the latter are inserted through said openings and turned to engage the wings with the inner walls of the reservoir as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 3, they thereby hold the candle in place against the pressure of its feeding spring. This construction and manner of placing the cap, gives the advantage of holding it in'place at the open end of the reservoir, by the pressure of the.

candle which constantly presses the cap, by its wings, against the inner walls of the res ervoir. I V

It is important that as the reservoir fills with the drippings of the candle, the cap should, thereby, be covered and the drippings completely surround that portion of the candle which' extends into the reservoir and serve to protect it from the heat of the walls of the reservoir-bulge.

To adapt the holder for use with a Christmas tree I provide it with a depending retainer which consists of a piece of wire terminating in apiercing'point or spur h at one end and a ball at its other end, both the point and the ball being vertically coincident with the center of the candle-holder, whereby the lighted candles can be suspended by the piercing points or spurs of their holders on any branch, however sloping, in the exact place desired, and without being brought out of its perpendicular position by subsequent bending of the limb or the least danger of its slipping off. The piercing point combined with the gravity retainer gives the advantage of requiring that the point only sufficiently pierce the limb to give a sure hold and to form a pivot on which the gravity ball maintains the candle holder in a truly perpendicular position.

I prefer to secure the holder upon a coil 2' of the weight suspending wire and to form the piercing point by the end of and cem trally of said coil, the wire being bent to allow its suspension over the limb.

I know that candle holders for Christmas trees have been made withiardepending rod having a bent portion formed into a hook,

and a weight attached to the lowerend of the rod, whereby to retain the. holder in an up right position when it is suspended upona limb by said hook; that such holders have been provided with clasps,and with sticking points; but the provision of asuspending device formed by the joint action of the pierc, ing point or spur and the weight gives advan: tages which are not obtainable by thejoint use of a hook and weight, or by theuse of a-clasp, or by a pin, for'neither a hook, a clasp nor-a pin can give the candle holder the precise position and certain support upon an inclined limb under any and all conditions of the tree branches and the bending thereofun-der the 1 weight of the decorations, or at the precise place Where the decorator would have them to produce the best effect.

I claim as my improvement- 1. A tubular candle-holder for Christmas trees, having a spring for automatically feeding the candle, a piercing-point standing down centrally from the bottom of said holder, and a weight hanging from, centrally with, and below said holder, acting to maintain the point in its piercing position on the tree-branch.

2. In a candle-holder, the tubular holder having its walls terminating in an open top spheroidal enlargement or bulge to form a reservoir, in combination with acap, for boldingthe candle against the feed of the spring, the cap itself being held within and against the inner walls of the holder-bulge by the pressure of the candle, the vertical walls of which serve to close the bottom of the bulge to form the reservoir.

3. In a candle-holder for Christmas-trees, the combination of a tubular-holder, and a suspending device therefor consisting of a Wire having one end terminating in a coil forming a seat for said holder, the end of which coil terminates in a downward piercing point central therewith, the lower end of said wire having a weight, and the piercing point,

thecenter of the weight and the center line otthe candle-holder being vertically co-incident for sticking the holder in position upon the tree-branches.

4. A candle-holder having a spring for feeding the candle as it is consumed, and terminating in a reservoir inclosing the burning endof the candle and having radial notches, and a cap forming an inverted cup inclosing the burning end of the candle and having wings corresponding with the notches in the reservoir for engaging the inner walls of the latter for the purpose stated.

EDWARD A. UEIILING. In presence of- W. A. MAJOR, A. W. SIMS. 

